Turkish Journal of Zoology, 31: 171-180 (2007)
Biometrical study of Artemia urmiana (Anostraca: Artemiidae) cysts harvested from the Urmia Lake (West Azerbaijan, Iran)
Alireza Asem*1, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani1 and Naser Agh2
1) Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, 67149 Kermanshah, Iran
2) Artemia and Aquatic Animals Research Institute, Urmia University, Urmia, IranAbstract:
Artemia urmiana has been reported from the Urmia Lake by Günther in 1899. The objectives of this study were to investigate the diameter of untreated and decapsulated cysts and chorion thickness in 26 stations of the Urmia Lake. One-Way ANOVA (Tukey Test, p<0.05) was used, for analyzing the data. Only 31 pair means of untreated cysts among 26 stations showed significant differences, but, on the other hand, 157 pair mean of decapsulated cysts among stations showed significant differences. Then there is high variation in cyst diameter among the different localities in the Urmia Lake. It has been shown that this lake consists of recognizable sections producing cysts with different hatching characteristics, which can be used for diverse aquacultural purposes.
Key Words: Artemia urmiana, Urmia Lake, Iran, untreated cyst, decapsulated cysts, chorion thickness, Hatching Efficiency
